a blog about the goings on in a classroom of 5 and 6 year olds
(with some pretty cool photos)

Thursday, 10 May 2012

pupating

Just one day after we spotted our first ‘J’ there were further signs of change; our caterpillars were starting to pupate. By Tuesday morning two of the caterpillars had pupated and were now hanging from the lid of the pot, encased in a hard outer ‘shell’.

From hereon they are no longer called caterpillars, but a pupas (or you could also use the word chrysalis).

And as Ella wrote, ‘The others are sticking on the lid.’

Which meant we had high hopes that by Wednesday we would have more pupas.

Yanis noticed that by now, as well as the fact that, ‘All of the (other) caterpillars are like a J,’ he thought there was also ‘less web.’ He wasn’t quite sure where it had gone.

Mélina has been wondering again. ‘Why,’ she asked, ‘does a caterpillar have to change into a butterfly?’

That’s one of those difficult to answer questions. I’m afraid they just do, Mélina.

Come Wednesday and our predictions were proved to be correct. The number of pupas had jumped from two to four overnight.

Can you count them?

We looked at them closely so we’d be able to describe what they looked like.

You might have noticed, as we did, that the pupas have tiny golden spots. As Hiromi said, ‘They are a little bit twinkly.’ That’s a little bit magical!

I have to admit that I was wondering along the same lines as Melchior, when he wrote this.

‘How do caterpillars (change into a) pupa (so) quickly?’

I don’t know the answer to this either, and am happy just to be in awe; isn’t nature remarkable!

PS I was cleaning my windows this morning (all that bright sunshine doesn’t half show up the dirt!) when I spotted this…..

suspended from the frame. It’s quite different from our school pupas, isn’t it. I wonder what kind of butterfly will emerge from it. That’s something else for me to keep an eye on!